Airtel & BSNL partner with Nokia to set up 5G internet speed in India

Global technology major Nokia and India's leading network service provider Airtel along with state-owned network BSNL have announced that they have planned a strategy to reach the network evolution to 5G services introduce a fast internet ecosystem in the country.

Earlier in March Nokia had announced the partnership with BSNL and Airtel with an aim to prepare 5G networks in India. According to a report, an MOU has been signed between the companies.(Reuters)

Global technology major Nokia and India’s leading network service provider Airtel along with state-owned network BSNL have announced that they have planned a strategy to reach the network evolution to 5G services introduce a fast internet ecosystem in the country. Earlier in March Nokia had announced the partnership with an aim to prepare 5G networks in India. According to a report in ET, an MOU has been signed between the companies. This move will open up the country to the potential of extreme high-speed wireless broadband with ultra-low-latency, and the ability to support the future network demands of connected devices associated with the Internet of Things (IoT) and Smart Cities.

According to Nokia, it will work with BSNL with an aim ‘to accelerate the development of a 5G ecosystem’. Nokia and BSNL will reportedly be conducting joint 5G demonstrations across the country. According to the company, the combination of high speed and low latency in 5G raises a host of possibilities, such as remote healthcare, virtual reality, augmented reality, connected cars, and full automation of homes and businesses, among others. Nokia and BSNL will work towards finding an efficient and cost-effective path for network evolution to 5G for enhanced speed and capacity.

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Nokia has also tied up with Airtel for this 5G ecosystem development. Both the companies will look at network evolution to 5G, exploring operations, cost-effectiveness, quality and reliability. The aim of the partnerships is to upgrade the existing 4G network in India to make way for better 5G services in the country.

Sanjay Malik, head of India Market, Nokia had said in an earlier press statement, “In line with the Indian Government’s thrust to boost the digital infrastructure to enhance economic growth, Nokia is delighted to partner with BSNL in the development of a 5G ecosystem for the Indian market. We will leverage our global experience in 5G-related industry projects and collaborations to enable BSNL to evolve their networks for the programmable world.”

This partnership does not essentially mean that 5G services will come to the country soon. 5G is a next gen technology which will require humongous efforts from hardware and software makers alike, as well as network providers. 5G will likely take a year or two in order to come to the smartphones of the common man., Till then companies like Airtel and BSNL will take help of Nokia’s network solutions in order to keep testing it.

Nokia’s 5G FIRST end-to-end 5G solution, including its AirScale radio access portfolio and AirFrame data centre platform, will be utilised to demonstrate 5G capabilities and simulate use cases of 5G extreme broadband and ultra-reliability and low-latency communication. The companies will also utilise technologies such as SDN (software defined networking), Multi-access Edge Computing and cloud to help BSNL evolve and leverage the opportunities of the programmable world.

Interestingly it was reported in February, that Reliance Jio and Israel’s Airspan are together planning to ensure a smooth transition to 5G internet on your networks. Jio Infocomm is reportedly deploying small cells made by Airspan Networks which will carry over 350 terabytes of data along with 5 million VoLTE calls made every day.